Vista
lite 530
Older Lights

Product Description

User Reviews

Overall Rating:

Value Rating:

Submitted by
Jeremy Moore
a Cross Country Rider
from Canada

Date Reviewed: May 23, 2002

Strengths: Lights themselves are great. Intense beam.

Weaknesses: I have to agree with the mounts breaking. I have replaced only 1 but I think I am getting off lucky. The batteries suck the big one. They are expensive and last only about a year. My first pack came with a dud battery. I have purchased a total of 8 batteries and only 4 are still working after 30 mins.

Submitted by
Frank Loos
a Cross Country Rider
from Herrenberg, Germany

Date Reviewed: March 18, 2002

Strengths: In general a good light for the money. Easy to mount, simple handle bar mount and bottle cage battery set. Lights itself are small.

Weaknesses: Handle bar mount breaks frequently. One broke while riding on a smoothly paved road, another one lifting the bike on my shoulder. The "dump" charger. I bought a "smart" third party charger. Service: In the US I got a replacement mount within a week. Now being in Germany it is a differnet story. Service is organized from Ireland and it took three weeks to get a receipt for my E-Mail. Another two weeks are gone and I am still without the spare part.

I don't know what to say about the breaking mounts, maybe they got hold of some bad plastic, but I have had NO problems with the mounting bracket. It's the best designed one I've used - it mounts easily on any handlebars and doesn't need a permanent bracket so I can swap it between bikes.

Similar Products Used: BLT Spectrum, old style BLT (the ones that were the size of a coke can), Union, Mini-Maglite taped to handlebars

Bike Setup: 2 wheels and a seat

Overall Rating:

Value Rating:

Submitted by
Wheelman
a Cross Country Rider
from Canada

Date Reviewed: March 30, 2000

Strengths: Bright, versatile

Weaknesses: 10 W spot beam on single is sub optimal off road

Bottom Line:

Well, I like the handlebar mount, and mine hasn't broken in the 5 years I've had it. It is one of the light's strong points. It attaches to any handlebar I've tried to put it on and removes easily without leaving any hardware behind.

I really have no problems with it, I think it's the most versatile MR-11 light I've seen.

Weaknesses: mounting brackets!! UPDATE: vistalite did send new mounting brackets and new lights as well. the problem is that the replacement brackets didn't feel as strong as the first brackets. well...one bracket broke as I WALKED my bike out my front door.(i am not exaggerating)

these are great lights! I love the separate aiming and mounting. the only thing wrong was the handlebar mounting brackets. one broke while my girlfriend was adjusting it, the other broke when i hit a small pothole in the road. the guy at the bike shop where i bought them says that they are pretty good about warranty and defective replacements, we will see. the mounts that broke are plastic. the new light mounts that the shop had are aluminum i think. hopefully vistalite has corrected the problem. i have not heard of anyone else having this problem though. don't dismiss these lights . they are really good and i would buy them again. the broken mount makes me give them only 3 chilis

This is an excellent light set. As bright as the rest at half the cost.This past summer I competed in a endurance night race and to my surprise this system was as good as anything there, and lasted a full 3 hours on a full charge. I ran into 2 people with dead nightriders at this race. I am riding @ night regularly since, the same old trail becomes a new one @ night.

A great lite for the money($132 in a performance sale). The spot is really bright. The flood is really yellow and dim. I think that I will be replacing the flood for another. Anyone know of where I could get a flood light? Halogen Overdrive Technology. battery lasts a long time. Great light. I think that I will give it five flamin' turds!